Ukrainian drones hit Russian weapons factory

KYIV: Ukrainian drones struck a munitions factory in central Russia in an overnight attack, a source in Ukraine’s SBU Security Service revealed on Saturday.

The attack on the Aleksinsky chemical plant, which produces gunpowder, ammunition and weapons in the Tula region about 200 km (120 miles) south of Moscow, was part of a strategy to target factories that support Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the source said.

“Attacks on weapons warehouses, military airfields, and enterprises, which are part of the Russian military-industrial complex, reduce Russia’s ability to terrorise our country,” the SBU source said.

The source did not give any estimate of damage to the Aleksinsky factory.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces shot down 50 Ukrainian drones in seven Russian regions overnight, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

As the war against Russia approaches its 1,000-day mark, Ukraine is on the back foot on the battlefield against its larger and better-equipped foe.

Russian troops are steadily advancing in the eastern Donetsk region, slicing through Ukrainian defence lines and wiping out towns and villages there with guided air bombs and artillery. The Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday that the frontline situation was complicated, reporting more than 170 combat clashes in the past 24 hours, the majority in the east.

Ukrainian officials say strikes against military facilities, warehouses, and airfields in Russia would disrupt Moscow troops’ logistics and supplies and help turn the war in Ukraine’s favour. Since September, Ukraine has struck several ammunition warehouses in Russia with Ukrainian-produced long-range drones, according to Ukrainian security officials. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly urged Kyiv’s Western partners to supply more long-range missiles and lift restrictions on using them to hit targets deep inside Russia.